A’s send Jarrod Parker down, but he’s still in fifth-starter race

Jarrod Parker clearly was downcast when I spoke to him after he was sent down to minor-league camp 30 minutes ago, but I’m not convinced that we need to read too much into this beyond the fact that Parker won’t be going to Japan and he won’t be on the Opening Day roster.

UPDATE: Manager Bob Melvin just confirmed that Parker is, as I’d thought, still in the fifth-starter hunt despite being optioned out to Triple-A Sacramento. “I know he’s disappointed about not going to Japan, but that doesn’t mean he’s not in the running for the fifth-starter spot,” Melvin said “He is going to be part of this team, if not right now, certainly in the future. He’s as talented a guy as we have here.”

The A’s don’t need even a third starter until April 9, and they can go without a fifth starter until April 17. Parker will be here in Arizona, getting in plenty of work – and it’s conceivable that the team could still target him for a rotation spot if the other candidates stumble before then. Parker has the best stuff among the A’s young pitchers, and as manager Bob Melvin emphasized today, when Parker is in the strike zone, he’s “phenomenal.” Parker, 23, is the most high-profile of all of the A’s offseason additions; acquired in the Trevor Cahill deal with Arizona, he is a former first-round pick who is considered a potential future star.

Parker walked seven men today, but he was facing his former team and he clearly was a little over-anxious, so Melvin said that’s taken into consideration.

Parker told me that he was just told to go to minor-league camp and to fine-tune some things.

Right now, among those still on the roster, the starters are: Brandon McCarthy, Bartolo Colon, Tommy Milone, Tyson Ross, Graham Godfrey and Brad Peacock, but Peacock also has a rough spring, with a 12.86 ERA. He’s pitched better than that would indicate, but not as well as Parker – Parker entered today’s game with a 2.45 ERA.

The smart money right now is for the A’s to use Milone, Ross and Godfrey in those final three rotation spots, but Parker would definitely be the first option if anyone struggles – or if he gets his command sharpened up, as expected, while here in Arizona. I know the A’s sometimes like to have young hotshots start the season a little later, to avoid the service clock from ticking too soon, but in this instance, I think Parker and Peacock will be with the big-league club when the A’s feel they’re most ready to succeed, without too much emphasis on service time and arbitration clocks. But hey, if being on the big-league club in mid-April, late April, mid-May rather than on Opening Day means an extra full season of Parker, I don’t think the A’s will mind that at all.

We hope to speak to Bob Melvin or David Forst when they get out of a meeting; if there is anything of note, I’ll add it here. (Update: See above. Also, I would not at all be surprised to see Peacock also stay here to work on things, too. It sounds as if Travis Schlichting and Evan Scribner will be on the Japan trip to provide length in the bullpen.)